Weekend Stitching: A Little Handwork, A lot of Walking

Since we were on vacation all last week, there's not been a lot of time in the sewing room.  I did take some hand work along for the ride and made some good progress on that. 

I only work on this project when we are away from home, so I'm not sure when it will get finished.  At any rate it's nice to have something to stitch on in the evenings while we are winding down from vacation activities like 5 mile hikes.  

I did spend some time on my OMG for July.  The July UFO is my Scrappy Coffee Cups blocks made as part of the 2012 Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  These blocks haven't been made into a quilt because I was out of the white background fabric and couldn't figure out how to set them without additional fabric.  I did a bit of playing in EQ over the last few days.  I tried a scrappy border and just didn't like it.  After playing around with borders and such, here's the most likely possibility. 

  Scrappy Coffee Cups
Block patterns from Karen F. Srebro and Janet McCarroll
published in Block Magic and Block Magic Too by Nancy Johnson-Srebro

It's not that different then what I started with, but the sashing is narrower.  Plus I've added two borders of white tone on tone.  Hopefully there is another white tone on tone in the stash that reads the same as the background fabric for the blocks.  Since it won't be right up against the blocks, it shouldn't be as noticeable that it's not the exact same fabric.  The actual color of the sashing and borders will be determined by what is in the stash.  I really like the blue borders, but My Guy likes green.  This is going to be his recliner cuddle quilt.  I'm going to stick with tone on tone fabrics for the borders no matter what color they end up being. 

On a completely unrelated note.  Twenty five years ago on July 11th, we said our I do's.  Happy anniversary My Guy!  

Looking forward to the next 25!

Linking up for:
Main Crush Monday
Monday Making
Monday Design Wall

Stash Stuff and Slow Stitching for Week 27 of 2017

It's been a fast week.  Not because work has been busy, but because we've been on vacation this week.  It's true, time does fly when you are having fun.  Not to rub it in, but this has been the view from where we've been staying all week.

   
After the madness of June, getting a week to kick back and have fun was a much needed battery recharge. 

Not much happening in the sewing room, but I did bring some embroidery work with me. 

I've made quite a bit of progress since the last time these butterflies made an appearance on the blog.  

No fabric usage to report this week, but I did do my bit for the local quilt shop and bought a few fun pieces to take home.

Drama Teen liked the sea creatures and I thought the stripe would make a fun binding for one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts (should I ever finish one!).  There's also a set of blue fat quarters to use for this year's RSC blocks.  As much as I like blue, I don't have much in the scrappy portion of my stash, so these fat quarters will get put to good use later this month.  I also fell in love with the display version of the Gigi's Thimble pattern, it would be great for some of those big prints at home that I don't quite know what to do with.  And a quilting book to read on the plane ride home.  I was very restrained on the fabric purchases, they had some really cute fabrics.  It's a good thing space in the luggage is a limited.  

So on that note, here's the damage to the stash. 

Used last week:  0 yards
Used year to date:  38.79 yards
Added year to date:  219.05 yards
Net added year to date:  180.26 yards

I'm dreading getting back into the work groove next week.  Good thing I'll have some sewing room time to help ease the transition. 

Linking up with quiltpaintcreate for the weekly stash report and Slow Stitching Sunday over at Kathy's Quilts.

The One Monthly Goal for July 2017

How did it get to be the 6th of July so fast?  It certainly seems that July is speeding by more quickly than I'm ready for.  It will be a busy month, lots of plans already on the calendar.  We've got a family vacation on there, plus I've got another business trip planned as well.  Access to the sewing machine will be rather limited in July. So what would make a good One Monthly Goal? 

The OMG has been a great motivator the last year.  I've tried to pick projects that have reached places where I tend to stall out.  If I use that as my guidance criteria for picking this month's goal, then figuring out a setting plan for the Scrappy Coffee Cup blocks would be a good goal.  

 Scrappy Coffee Cups
Block patterns from Karen F. Srebro and Janet McCarroll
published in Block Magic and Block Magic Too by Nancy Johnson-Srebro

These blocks are also this month's July UFO project.  So it would be nice to see some progress on getting these into a quilt, but that takes a plan first.  I don't have any more of the background fabric.  This was my first Rainbow Scrap Challenge project and I didn't realize that I might want some background left over to use for the setting.  I've been stalled on the setting since realizing that. Here's the one quilt mock up I attempted several years ago. 

It's a bit "blah" don' you think?  I need to go stash diving, I believe I bought a print with coffee cups on it to use for the outer border.  Not sure where that ended up.  But maybe this quilt should have a scrappy border?  So that's the goal for July, come up with a final setting plan for these blocks.  They won't come off the UFO list till I get at least that far.  These blocks date from 2012.  It would be nice to finally get them into a quilt.    

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts for the July One Monthly Goal.  

2017 Finish Along: What's Next for Third Quarter?

How can it be July already?  Our 4th of July was pretty low key and relaxed.  It's the first day in a few weeks that we've just took it easy and enjoyed the day with family.  Unfortunately, the rest of this week and most of next week will be busy.  I've not had a lot of time to spend on the home computer. I'm still massively behind on answering emails and blog reading.  Posting hasn't happened much either, which is OK, things are so busy there isn't much to post about.  Doesn't look like I'll catch up anytime soon. Between family plans and work, it's going to be hectic till August rolls around. Please don't give up on me.  I'll be back (imagine Arnold Schwarzenegger's accent here) eventually!  

Even though things are a bit hectic, I still want to participate in the 2017 Finish Along for the third quarter. 

All the quilts from the first quarter list got finished, but only two of the four from the second quarter list made it to completion.  One only needs the binding sewn down, so the Meadow Mist Mystery is pretty much a done deal anyway. 

 Meadow Mist Designs Mystery
By Cheryl Brickey of the Meadow Mist Designs Blog

The other unfinished project from second quarter, Blooms and Butterflies, has been sent off to Trudy for quilting.  It should be back ready for labeling and binding before the end of July.  So that one should be another easy finish. 

Blooms and Butterflies
Bloom block by Lea Brummett, setting by Kate

Those two are easy finishes.  What else should go on the list for third quarter?   The June UFO project was Christmas Angels. Surprisingly, I've made a good amount of progress on it.  So rather than sticking it back in it's project box, it will stay in the project rotation.  Not sure if it will get done this quarter or not, but it can't hurt to leave it on the list since I'm going to be working on it anyway.  

Christmas Angels
Pattern by Kate

The July UFO selected by Patchwork Times is #12 on my 2017 Quilt Plan.  That's the scrappy coffee cups from the 2012 Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

 Scrappy Coffee Cups
Block patterns from Karen F. Srebro and Janet McCarroll
publised in Block Magic and Block Magic Too by
Nancy Johnson-Srebro

I don't even have a setting plan for this one.  It's not likely to get finished, but I do hope to make progress on it this quarter.  At work they always tell us to put at least one stretch goal on our plans, sometimes it pays off.  So I'll add it here.  I could use some extra inspiration on getting this one to the finish line.  

So that's my list for the Third Quarter 2017 Finish Along.  Linking up over at Cut and Alter.  Good luck with your list for third quarter.

Stash Stuff and a 2017 Quilting Ambitions Update

This post is a day later than planned.  Let's just say that July didn't start off as planned and leave it at that for now. 

June was not a nice month.  The washer went out, a job change required quite a bit of overtime the last half of the month.  Both problems are now solved.  I was going to say that stitching didn't go so well, but it really wasn't a bad month on that front, other than my 15 minutes of stitching time went out the window for a week while I dealt with the fall out from the job change.  The end of June also marks the end of second quarter.  So it's a good opportunity to check how I'm doing on my 2017 quilting ambitions that I posted to Quilting Jetgirl's 2017 Planning Party.  

Since this is the stash management report, I'll start with that and if you are not interested in the rest you can stop there.  

Quilt Ambition #3:  Manage the Stash/Organize the Sewing Room

Used last week: 0.41 yards
Used year to date: 38.79 yards
Added year to date: 215.55 yards
Net added year to date: 176.76 yards

The one advantage of being really busy with work is that I've not had much time for fabric shopping, so the incoming numbers stalled this month.  That's a good thing.  Even so it's not likely I'll meet my goal of using more than I buy this year.  Fabric usage is on track.  I've used more than half of the 70 yards that is the goal for this year.  

Organizing the sewing room has seen a few fits and starts. I found a good way to organize the fabric pieces for all the in progress quilts.  I showed that off here. Now that my deadline sewing is done, I've been spending more time working on organizing the rest of the sewing room.  I still haven't done anything with the scraps.  But I have done a bit in the fabric closet.  Here's how it looked last July.  

July 10, 2016

Here's how it looks now:

As of June 18, 2017

Not a lot of progress, but this chore takes a while.  I'll keep chipping away at it. 

Quilting Ambition #1:  Finish a Few Quilts

I've done really well on this goal.  There are four finishes so far this year:  Poinsettias, Bejeweled, Geometry and The First Amendment Quilt.  Three of these were high school graduation gifts.  They were finished in time to gift them the last day of school. 

The graduation quilts:  Geometry, Zombies in Paris and Bejeweled

They were a big hit.  I got hugs from all three girls (and none of them are big on giving hugs). 

There should be at least two more finishes this year.  The 2016 Meadow Mist Mystery  is being bound and Blooms and Butterflies has been shipped off for quilting.  That will make at least 6 finishes for 2017.  Definitely not shabby.

Quilting Ambition #3:  Participate in Challenges and Mystery Quilt Alongs

I've gotten a good start on the blocks for the 2017 Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Though I still need to finish up the yellow blocks for June. 

The Magnolia Mystery from Meadow Mist Designs starts up in a few days.  That will be the next quilt along for 2017.  There are a couple of other mystery quilt alongs that are very tempting. I'm contemplating if I can start one or both of those two.  I probably won't start either because the UFO list is still pretty huge, but I can dream anyway. 

Quilting Ambition #4:  Make Time to Sew

The goal is to spend at least 15 minutes each day stitching.  The second quarter of 2017 hasn't been as good as the first, but I've found those 15 minutes more days than ever before. 

Days with 15 minutes of stitching:  165 days out of 181 days 
Percentage success:  91%

More fabric out and more finishes this year.  Pretty sure that's tied to this one goal.  

Quilting Ambition #5:  Work on Blogging Skills

My goal was to blog three times a week.  I didn't do so hot on that each week during the second quarter.  Some weeks I managed 5 posts, other weeks just 1.  On average I posted about 3 times per week for the year.  Not sure yet if I consider that success or not. 

I've written 2 of the 4 tutorials that was in my goals for this year.  On track with that one.  The last goal was to improve my photography skills.  I've been more conscious of staging my photos this last quarter.  Not sure that equates to better photos, but it's something different I'm trying.  

It's been a really good year so far.  I'm happy where I'm at in my ambitions for the year so far.  Now to keep up the momentum over the hot summer months and into the fall.  How are you doing on your stitching goals for 2017?  

Linking up with QuiltPaintCreate for the weekly stash report.